The temperature dependence of dicyandiamide (DCD) degradation in soils: A data synthesis

Dicyandiamide (DCD, C2H4N4) is a nitrification inhibitor that has been studied for more than 80 years. However, there are few papers that have examined the use of DCD on dairy farms where cattle graze pasture and where urine is the primary form of nitrogen (N) deposited onto soils. After DCD was applied (10 kg DCD ha−1) with bovine urine (700–1200 kg N ha−1) to five soils throughout New Zealand, the reduction in direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions was significant and remarkably consistent (71 ± 8%, average ± standard error). The application of DCD to these soils occurred in autumn and winter; daily average soil temperature (T) was reported but these data were not further analysed. Perusal of the literature suggested no consensus on the temperature dependence of DCD degradation in soils. Based on published data from controlled-environment studies of soils sampled in four countries, we quantified the relation between T and the time for DCD concentration in soils to decline to half its application value (t½) as t½ (T) = 168e−0.084T with parameter standard errors of ±16 d and ±0.011 d−1, respectively (n = 16). For example, at 5 °C a 1 °C increase in T reduced t½ from 110 to 101 d whereas at 25 °C the reduction was 20–19 d. Analysing T data from the New Zealand trials using our t½ (T) function, over 43–89 d when direct N2O emissions from treated plots became indistinguishable from the controls, the estimated percentage of applied DCD remaining in the soil averaged 43 ± 10%. These calculations suggested the apparently remaining DCD was ineffective with respect to direct N2O emissions. In the absence of measurements, explanations for this interpretation included vertical displacement of the DCD and sorption onto organic matter in soils. The consistent DCD efficacy from these trials corresponded with T generally <10 °C, so it is suggested as an application criteria for the reduction of direct N2O emissions from pastoral soils subjected to urine excretion by grazing cattle.